Pius X volunteer coach charged with having sex with student player

Volunteer with girls volleyball team had illicit relationship with player, police say.

December 19, 2013|By Manuel Gamiz Jr., Of The Morning Call

Just over a decade ago, Stephanie L. Merlo was a 3-point specialist for the St. Bonaventure University women's basketball team after ending her high school hoops career in the Slate Belt and Poconos as one of the nation's top long-range shooters.

This year, Merlo was back on the campus of one of her high school teams, Pius X in Bangor, where she volunteered as a girls volleyball coach, helping out at practices and traveling with the team to games and tournaments.

She became close with one of the girls on the team, exchanging phone numbers and talking regularly. When the season ended, the two got even closer, having three or more intimate encounters, police said.

Merlo, 29, of Bangor was charged Thursday with having a sexual relationship with the girl. Merlo also bought marijuana and smoked it with her, according to court records.

None of the encounters happened on Pius X grounds, police said.

Merlo was arraigned by District Judge Todd Strohe and released on $75,000 unsecured bail. She faces charges of institutional sexual assault and two counts of corruption of minors, one each for the allegations of sex and marijuana.

Matt Kerr, spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Allentown, said Merlo is no longer associated with the school.

Under her bail conditions, Merlo is not allowed on the high school campus and can't have contact with the girl. She must also undergo drug screenings every two weeks.

Merlo was considered one of the top 3-point shooters in the area when she played for Pius X and Pocono Mountain East, earning Morning Call All-Area honors in basketball and also in volleyball. She set the Pius X school record as a freshman and finished her career with more than 300 combined 3-pointers at both schools.

The girl is identified in court records by her initials. The Morning Call does not identify victims or alleged victims of sex crimes.

According to a criminal complaint:

State police at Belfast began investigating sex allegations Nov. 8 when two people came to the barracks asking to speak to the criminal investigations unit.

The two people, who are not identified, said they were concerned about a Pius X student they believed was having sex and doing drugs with a woman who coached at the school. They identified the woman only as "Coach Steph."

Five days later, state police spoke to the school's principal and athletic director and determined that Coach Steph was Merlo, an unpaid volleyball coach.

Police interviewed the girl, who said she played volleyball and became friendly with Merlo during the season. They exchanged phone numbers and talked regularly and, when the season ended, their relationship evolved and they became intimate.

The girl said she and Merlo kissed and sexually touched each other. She said they had sexual intercourse and used sex toys. Also, she said the coach bought her marijuana and smoked it with her twice.

Police interviewed Merlo that day, Nov. 13, and she admitted having sex with the girl. Merlo also admitted giving the girl money and taking her to buy marijuana. Merlo denied smoking the marijuana.

Merlo finished her high school basketball career with more than 1,800 points and ranked ninth all-time nationwide in girls basketball history with 319 3-pointers, according to her biography with St. Bonaventure University, near Olean, N.Y.

She made fifth-team All-State selection as a freshman and sophomore at Pius X, averaging 21 points as a sophomore. She transferred to Pocono Mountain East after her sophomore year, prompted by academics and what she described to The Morning Call in 2001 as ill treatment of her in the Bangor community. She averaged more than 14 points in her junior and senior seasons with Pocono Mountain East.

Merlo went on to play at St. Bonaventure and transferred to Virginia Commonwealth University after her freshman year. It's unclear what she did after college, but a VCU athletics story indicates she played overseas at one point.

Kerr said since Pius X learned of the allegations, the school has been cooperating with the investigation and will continue to do so.

He said Merlo passed all the required criminal and background checks before she began working with the volleyball team.

Kerr said he doesn't know what Merlo did for a living. According to her Facebook page, she worked at the Sands casino in Bethlehem in 2010.

A reporter knocked on Merlo's apartment door in the 200 block of South Eighth Street in Bangor, but no one answered. Calls to Merlo were not answered.